PLANET GALATA

What is life like on Planet Galata?

The Galata Bridge in Istanbul is a cosmos of it’s own. Tens of thousands of people cross it every day. For many it is their daily working place, for some it is home.

Planet Galata – a dynamic documentary portrait of the characters and hotspots of Istanbul’s Galata Bridge, directed by non-linear narrative pioneer Florian Thalhofer, and created using his bespoke Korsakow software.

A documentary portrait of Galata Bridge and the surrounding area in Istanbul, Turkey – a microcosm reflecting the rich cultural diversity of the city as a whole. Large numbers of people live and work on and around the bridge. Filmmaker Florian Thalhofer zooms in on some of them, including restaurant owners Kemal, Gaffur and Erkan, street cleaners Bayram and Erdogan, and bridge inspector Ömer, who secretly is the “king of the bridge.”

The portraits themselves are informal glimpses into ordinary lives, with their subjects talking openly about their troubles; in this way, they are the bridge and the starting point, the main character and the guide in the film the visitor creates. Thalhofer also edited a linear film, that is completing this cross media documentary project.

There are two versions of Planet Galata. A classic Korsakow-Film and a linear film – the first linear film Thalhofer ever made. He was asked by ARTE to make this linear film to accompany the Korsakow-film for ARTE.TV (ARTE’s online appearance).

For Thalhofer “linear film lies”, and he said that the linear version of Planet Galata is not a documentary but a fairy-tale. But he also committed, that he really enjoyed making this film: “I love making up stuff.”